Alicia's eyes lit up as she watched the Stellar Direwind hit the planet. There was a power within the Direwind that resonated with her. If her aura was a grape, the Direwind was like a fine wine. Despite the distance and relatively subtle nature of the Direwind, Alicia could feel how it tore through the invisible barriers and formations surrounding the planet in exquisite detail.

She noticed small similarities in the way the Direwind broke apart the planet's magical defenses and to the way her aura tore apart her own soul. Alicia replayed her memories of her soul collapsing, trying to find more parallels between the two events. She twisted her lips. Her memories weren't enough to convey the full details of the event.

“Don't you dare,” Jack said. “I know what you're thinking. Don't you fucking dare-”

Alicia deactivated her soul defenses, letting her aura spread within her, analyzing the Direwind and her soul at the same time.

Despite her dimming consciousness, her perception felt better than ever before and revelations kept coming one after the other.

“Alicia, stop!” Jack said. “ALICIA!”

The girl frowned. She was learning so much more than before and Jack just decided to interrupt her? Annoyed at the precious seconds she lost, she turned attention back to her soul and finally saw the big picture. Her soul was in far worse condition than before.

She immediately reactivated her soul defenses and turned around sheepishly to look Jack.

“Umm...” Alicia said. “Thanks.”

**

Jack let out a sigh as the girl passed out in his arms once more.

“You know,” Diana said. “I could've sworn Alicia was at least somewhat normal back at old River Oaks High.”

Lisaseron looked Alicia over, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder.

“She... will survive until we have a chance to set up down on the planet,” Lisaseron said. “I did not think she would treat her own soul with such recklessness.”

“You couldn't have expected a Rank one mortal to awaken from near soul dissolution in less than a quarter of a day. For her to use that opportunity to knowingly damage her soul further than before... it's just not reasonable.” Syraviel said.

Syraviel sniffed. Despite the cosy room temperature in their stowaway meteor, Jack and Diana couldn't help but shiver.

“It's good she likes training so much.”Syraviel said. “For her safety, I'll make sure she thoroughly learns her limits in the future. In fact, since she's already so... advanced, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I increased her training menu a bit. I wouldn't want her to think half-baked, crude methods are the only way to progress in strength.”

“Indeed, with such hunger for strength, I am certain Alicia would love the opportunity for additional training. We will have to work hard to not disappoint her.”

Jack shifted uncomfortably as he watched the Goddesses come to an agreement. On cue,

Lisaseron turned to look at him.

“Jack, it would be good if some of Alicia's diligence rubbed off on you.”

“Her diligence?” Jack asked. “You mean the obsession of a mentally unstable person.”

Lisaseron smiled.

“That would also do,” Lisaseron said. “Even if people call you mad, there is nothing wrong with working towards a worthy goal with unflinching zeal and dedication .”

Syraviel closed her eyes and pinched her brow.

“Void,” Syraviel said. “We're not trying to go that far.”

“Truly?” Lisaseron asked. “That is a shame. Well, regardless I will be increasing your training too, Jack.”

Jack's face twitched. Lisaseron giggled as she saw Jack's reaction. The Goddess licked her lips.

“I hope you would not mind if added an extra session in the... evening?”

Jack gulped.

“You mean-”

“Splendid,” Lisaseron said. “I'll be looking forward to... working diligently with you.”

Syraviel rolled her eyes.

“Alright Void, enough flirting, let's get to it.”

“Flirting? I was merely speaking about-”

“Yeah, yeah, less lips, more mana.”

Lisaseron put her hand on the smaller Goddess. Jack detected the flow of mana between them as Syraviel seemed to focus on working a magic through her shadow.

“Silence Fades, Darkness Dims,” Syraviel said.

Jack felt everyone's presence blend into the meteor. The boy felt off, realizing he could barely feel the girl in his arms and even his arms themselves. He felt like a ghost, the stealth so powerful he barely felt like he was still moored in his own body. The more he tried to sense his own body, the more uncanny it became so he chose to give up.

The fight between Behemoths and golems continued as they drifted closer to the planet. With the magical formations stalled out by the Direwind, the golems were taking massive casualties. The bloodlust of the Behemoths didn't waver, but the damage done to them was undeniable. One of the worms was in its death throes while the other would eventually bleed out and die. The razor squirrel was severely wounded and the pyramid taken its first injuries after running out of mana and entering melee range to attack.

Their meteor passed the first bits of broken golems scattered by the Behemoths. More golems surged out of the planet to attack the Behemoths but they lacked the coordination they'd previously displayed in swarming the first worm Behemoth. However, what initially seemed like a simple reinforcement turned into a seemingly endless stream of the magical murder machines.

“Jesus Christ,” Jack said. “Is this planet a fucking clown car? How many of those golems do they have?”

“Exact numbers would be difficult to guess... but if we had brought a dozen more Behemoths of the same level, I suspect the result would be the same.” Lisaseron said. “I did mention these golems were mass producible, no?”

“I suppose you did... We're not going to run into one of them, right?” Diana asked.

“It's a bit more likely than before,” Syraviel said. “The original plan had us much closer to the planet than our current situation. We'd worked out the timing pretty well, to be able to enter the atmosphere before the golems received reinforcements. It's a bit unfortunate, but I can make up for shortfalls in the plan. Void isn't the only Goddess with a few tricks of her own.”

“You're going to burn your Divinity too?” Jack asked.

Syraviel simply smiled.

“We're making it onto the planet,” Syraviel said.

The second she said that, a wave of golems emerged from their side of the planet. Lisaseron sucked in some air through her teeth. Syraviel swore, glaring at Lisaseron.

“They should not be for us but rather the Behemoths,” Lisaseron said. “Still... good luck, Shadow.”

Syraviel's eyes darted around, taking in the flow of the golem's movement.

“This Direwind better have been worth it,” Syraviel said.

A faint sheen of sweat covered Syraviel as their meteor plunged towards the inbound golems. Jack winced as a golem smashed one of the decoy meteors. He saw another two golems on a collision course for their meteor and gulped.

The Goddess sighed, working another magic through her shadows.

“Limitless Shadows Streak,” Syraviel said.

Just as the golems were about to hit them, Jack felt his point of view distort. The meteor moved impossibly fast, dodging the golems while covering a considerable distance. Syraviel clicked her tongue.

“This isn't a spell a Level one should be using,” she muttered.

“Agreed, why is your mana usage so inefficient on it?” Lisaseron asked. “That was seventy five percent of my pool.”

“You're complaining to me after everything you did?” Syraviel asked. “Mana batteries should shut up and only speak when spoken to.”

Syraviel tossed her hair.

“If Limitless Shadows Streak was so simple, wouldn't I just be invincible?” the Goddess sighed. “Extreme stealth, mobility and damage amplification with perfect control? Even War Champion's Thundermag Tempest Rush can't match it.”

“But all we need is just the stealth and a tiny bit of mobility,” Lisaseron said. “Can you not make an alteration?”

“Shadow Streak can't be adjusted like that,” Syraviel said. “Every part of its composition is in harmony, any change to 'optimize' it will ruin the effects, with stealth being the first to go.”

“Not even-”

“Dark Vault doesn't have enough control for the meteor,” Syraviel said.

Jack felt his surroundings distort again. Lisaseron was panting heavily while Syraviel's half-open left eye quivered.

“You guys couldn't make this thing steerable?” Jack asked.

“Too risky,” Syraviel panted. “You'll see.”

Jack and Diana watched with whitened knuckles as the Goddesses navigated the deluge of golems. They only needed to last a little bit longer, maybe just a few minutes. Their meteor was close enough that the planet eclipsed nearly everything in their view.

The trajectory of the golems shifted. They stayed much closer to the planet now as they moved towards the fight. Jack turned his attention back to the Behemoths. The last worm Behemoth was tearing into one of the Devil Skewer formations, while the razor squirrel dove deeper into the massed clouds that once spewed lightning towards it.

Lisaseron started laughing. Syraviel rubbed her eyes and looked at the scene again.

“There's really no way,” Syraviel said. “They weren't supposed...”

“But they did!” Lisaseron cackled.

The smaller Goddess clapped Lisaseron on the back.

“Brilliant,” Syraviel said. “Just brilliant! The Mad Witch strikes again!”

Lisaseron waved her hand in dismissal.

“I think at this point, it is safe to say that this much should not have been possible with all the variables I had considered for,” Lisaseron said.

The Goddesses both looked at Alicia for a moment before letting out another laugh. Diana found herself caught between the two excited Goddesses, receiving numerous hugs, hair-rufflings and pats on the back.

Jack looked at Alicia, curious about what got them so excited, but all he could see was an unconscious mess of a girl.

“Even in another world, you're still all about basking in the spotlight and making trouble for me.” Jack muttered. “You're quite the troublesome girl.”

After a minute, the excitement died down and the Goddesses collected themselves, cheerfully straightening out Diana's mussled hair while occasionally pointing at Alicia.

“I think that's enough patting ourselves on the back,” Syraviel said. “Void, start the cleaning. Let me recover for a moment and I'll do the finishing touches.”

Lisaseron drew several circles in the air with her fingers, leaving behind vibrating rings of semi-translucent mana in the air. The rings spun, circulating the air at speeds that hurt Jack's eyes.

He noticed his sense of smell fading and even his perception of the other presences diminishing. Still, even through his half-closed eyes, Jack couldn't miss the brilliant fire catching on the sides of the meteor. Jack closed his eyes fully, unable to take the extreme brightness.

The cleaning rings vanished. Jack let out a sigh of relief now that he didn't feel like he was inside of a wind tunnel.

“Bracing for detection ping,” Lisaseron said. “Adjusting for null space and passengers.”

“Ready to finish cleaning,” Syraviel said.

“Wait,” Lisaseron said. “Wait... Clear.”

Syraviel swept the interior of the meteor with a diaphanous shadowy blob that wrapped up all the passengers. Jack felt his vision dim to the point where he could open his eyes again. He watched the translucent shadow pulsate as it scrubbed the walls.

“We reach ejection altitude in twenty seconds.”

“Wait, we're jumping out?” Jack asked.

“I need a Mana transfer,”Syraviel said. “Just enough to get us down.”

Lisaseron put her hand on Syraviel.

“Jack, keep a tight hold on Alicia,” Syraviel said. “Diana, you too. Everyone circle up and hold tight.”

“Five seconds,”Lisaseron said.

Jack tensed up, holding Alicia tight against his chest.

Syraviel breathed out.

“Eject!”

The rock ceiling opened overhead as the stone beneath them popped them up into the air.

“Fuck!” Jack screamed. “You really couldn't have mentioned this earlier?”

“Don't you humans do skydiving for fun?” Syraviel asked.

Jack's eyes popped open as he reached the apex of his ascent and looked down.

“Some people get kicked in the balls for fun too!” he yelled back, as his body plummeted through the chilly air.

“Don't worry Jack!” Syraviel said. “We're going to be falling with style!”

Shadow tendrils shot out from the Goddess, bundling them all together as a large shadow hang glider formed around them, slowing their descent.

Jack watched their meteor crash into a mountain range while they glided over it. He looked back at Syraviel.

“Syraviel... when did you see Toy Story?” he asked.

Syraviel cleared her throat suddenly, while Lisaseron's eyes narrowed.

TheAscendentQuill

It was promised and it has come. The first arc officially starts next chapter! I'm probably going to go back through some of my more recent chapters and add some of the skill level ups I missed, so don't be surprised if you see some minor changes as well.

Going forward, I have the overall structure of this arc down, but its going to be big. My head has been bursting with ideas for this arc for weeks now but I've still got plenty more to set up. My creative engines are revving at full gear, putting things together.

I'm having a blast writing this and sharing it with you guys. It's been a dream of mine to go pro with writing for years now. I'm still a long way off from that but even if I don't have what it takes to be published, I can still have the attitude and hustle of a professional writer. I'm going to meet my deadlines to you guys,  relentlessly refine my work and strive to improve my shortfalls as a writer. 

Wherever you are, whoever you are, I'm glad you've found my story. Much love to you guys. Thanks for the kind words, suggestions, corrections and encouragement.

As always, let me know if you see any errors or inconsistencies. If you have any ideas or adjustments you'd like to see, feel free to share and get my creative juices going! Thanks for the support!